Saturday, June 9, 2012

What 13.26 of Geeta tells you!!

“Again there are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme Person Krishna upon hearing about Him from others. Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death. (13.26)”.

Over the period of time, the so called Pandits of religion have made the impression that those who do not have the kind of knowledge they have, can not reach to Krishna. The so called custodians of religions have threatened masses by saying this is not according scriptures or not written in vedas’.

However, one can attain Krishna by hearing about him from an authorized person. The Truth of the matter is so called pandits in the name of “Etiquettes and rituals” have troubled simple devotees time and again.

In his Mukund mala stotra, Raja Kulashekhar says “One who hears descriptions of Lord Krishna's pastimes and glorious qualities but whose bodily hair fails to bristle in ecstasy and whose eyes fail to flood with tears of pure love — such a person is indeed the most degraded rascal. What a condemned life he leads!”

Unless and until one has these symptoms or have this kind of Mahabhav, one should restrict himself to be called as a devotee of Krishna.

Krishna is very kind to have come out with this shloka in the thirteenth chapter. As we see, there are numerous devotees of Krishna who have attained his abode by offering different kinds of service to him. There are people who derive happiness only by serving a holy cow; they are mostly worried about saving cows and nurturing them. Neither they have time for reading scriptures nor do they perform any kind of sacrifices or charities.

The story of a great devotee Karma bai is another example of a devotee who was not fully conversant in spiritual knowledge. Karma bai used to treat Krishna as her son. She used to wake up early, prepare food for Krishna without having a bath. After offering food and making Krishna sleep she would do her household work.

One day a learned Bramhin came to her house and said “How can you cook food for the supreme lord without having a bath? She said “For a mother her children are first priority and next come her personal interests”.

Bramhin appreciated her devotion but insisted her to cook food for Krishna after having bath. Karma bai had no choice than to listen to the instructions of learned Bramhin. That night Krishna appeared in the dream of Bramhin and said” You have disturbed poor Karma bai by your silly suggestions, now I have to wait too long for my food. She is my beloved devotee, go and tell her that she doesn’t need to follow the rituals”. Awe struck by the devotion of Karma Bai, Bramhin next day ran into Karma bai’s house and delivered the message of Krishna.

A real devotee of Krishna instead of changing or correcting you increases your attachment to Krishna by understanding your core strengths. A service delivered to such a real devotee is considered even higher than the service delivered to Krishna.

In fact, Krishna says “while visiting a temple, an ignorant person may offer his prayers to me with grammatical mistakes whereas a scholar would speak properly. Still, I accept both prayers equally, for mere learning does not impress me. I am only interested to see the inner mood of surrender of a devotee “.